Trivial Pursuit?<br>Collecting Vice-President William R. King
- by Michael Stillman
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WHEREAS, William Rufus DeVane King earned income and maintained his lifestyle by oppressing and exploiting other human beings, and…”
And there’s no need to go on. King’s entire life has been reduced to this one wrong, a wrong commonplace in its day. Still, the wrong was so monumental one can hardly blame King County for the disassociation. Many of its citizens are descended from the victims of the horrible wrong King helped to maintain. How can they be expected to willingly accept that their county be named for him? Then again, to take the other side, should the state, named after slave owner George Washington, be renamed for Booker T? I don’t know the answers.
I only wish King could come back to explain. A progressive man for his time and place, he would hardly hold those views today. It would go a long way to answering the gnawing question “why,” and give King a chance to redeem himself with those who were wronged. Another Alabaman, George Wallace, apologized profusely for his actions before he died, and those he harmed appear, for the most part, to have forgiven him, even if they could not forget. Perhaps if King could have had this opportunity, it would be possible to remove this one huge blot on his life and remember him for all of the good and decent things he did. Sadly, this opportunity will never arise, not in this world.
For those looking to build a collection around William Rufus King, it is likely to be a short and inexpensive one. I have searched the Americana Exchange Database (ÆD) and Abebooks and found little. Based on what I have located, you’d think the most important thing he ever did was die. The aforementioned Obituary Addresses, printed for Congress is 1854, is the only King item easily located. Thirty thousand copies were printed, meaning you can find a good copy at Abebooks for around $20. In the ÆD I find two more items, again related more to his death than his life. There is a funeral sermon given by W.H. Platt printed in Selma, Alabama, King’s final resting place, in 1853. Another is a eulogy given in Clinton (North Carolina?) in 1853 by William W. Holden. Holden is an extremely interesting personality himself. He would go on to be a Republican post-Civil War governor of North Carolina, later impeached for “corruption,” a corruption which primarily consisted of his opposition to the Klan and growing racism.
Not much else shows up for King, other than books and posters which include him as Franklin Pierce’s running mate. Surely there must be some manuscripts and ephemera, but none is easily located. Perhaps his letters do not come up for sale at auction because few think they are important. But he was an important man in his time, and for a few bucks, you can complete a collection of the one-book King bibliography to be found.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
